Means again in 1989, Jordan Mechner’s unique Prince of Persia represented one of many first and greatest examples of what is grow to be generally known as the ‘cinematic platformer’. It is a historically difficult style, one that mixes robust artwork, enjoyable storylines, and fluidly animated protagonists to carry us adventures that check reflexes and puzzling talents to their limits. You already know the form of factor, stuff like Flashback and One other World; y’know, the classics.
Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown is the most recent rebirth of types for the franchise — following on from The Sands of Time and 2008’s Prince of Persia revamp — one which takes the established lore of previous entries and ditches them in favour of a tangentially-related new lead character, and a little bit of role-switching enjoyable. Sure, this brand-new story sees you play as Sargon, a member of The Immortals (crime-fighting hero sorts), and a person who meets all the standards required of a bonafide motion hero.
Within the opening moments of The Misplaced Crown, our new swashbuckler finds himself on a mission to rescue the precise Prince of Persia (plot twist!) on the similar time that he is betrayed by The Immortals and left floundering on the backside of a pit. It is a spectacular fall from grace for Sargon — he is been correct framed by some proper slags — and one which ends in a always compelling and splendidly well-crafted slice of platforming motion from the maestros at Ubisoft Montpellier.
After all, with these devs on the reigns (the identical staff behind the outstanding Rayman sequence), we had a sense this may find yourself being a little bit of a belter, and we have solely gone and been confirmed proper. Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown serves up 20 unbelievable hours of platform-puzzling (extra in case you’re a completionist) that brings kinetic motion and satisfyingly crunchy, responsive fight. It is acquired top-notch environmental design — par for the course with Ubisoft Montpellier, let’s face it — and a supremely intelligent melding of time-based powers, acrobatic expertise, and puzzles that lightly stretch that gray matter you’ve got acquired losing away between your earholes. This staff is aware of learn how to make tremendous intelligent and additional fashionable platformers, and it reveals in each second spent exploring and battling right here.
Giving us a brand new story and protagonist, while additionally making certain some good ties to the previous for followers, permits the sequence to reset its stall considerably, to step again from the excesses of the larger 3D entries to a extra ‘conventional’ 2.5D viewpoint. This can be a return to the core ideas of 1989’s unique and places gameplay, fixed problem, and immaculately-crafted platforming entrance and centre. The Misplaced Crown additionally brings some core modifications to the combo although, with Metroidvania-styled backtracking and map-studying now a a lot larger a part of the general expertise, a change that provides replayability in spades.
It is genuinely emotional at factors — particularly in case you’re sufficiently old to recollect the primary recreation clearly — as so typically The Misplaced Crown completely replicates the magical circulate of the OG Prince of Persia. By way of vibes, Ubisoft Montpellier nails the ambiance and perspective of that first journey while delivering a recreation that revels in how slick, fairly, and intelligent trendy platformers have grow to be.
As you embark upon a story that takes you thru lush forests, throughout sandy deserts, the rooftops of nice Persian temples, and past, you choose up an entire bevy of expertise and powers that remodel Sargon from dab-hand hero to reality-shifting manipulator of time itself. Now, we may element all of those expertise and powers right here however we would damage numerous the enjoyable of progressing and discovering secrets and techniques and talents for your self. Skills which might be drip-fed to you at simply the suitable time to maintain the core gameplay loop from getting stale.
You may know the final drill anyway, particularly in case you’ve been indulging within the likes of Lifeless Cells, Metroid Dread, and even Darkish Souls, to call a couple of newer examples. There’s numerous Lifeless Cells right here, specifically, by way of simply how a lot tweaking you are able to do with boons and boosts, and the nice previous bonfire mechanics of FromSoftware have additionally made their method into yet one more recreation.
On its default problem, the menagerie of skeletons, ghouls, and different monstrosities retains you in your toes with tight, parry-based fight. There are some fantastically vibrant boss fights dotted alongside the best way, too. Every new location seems nice — even when they lack originality in locations — and the world is packed stuffed with secrets and techniques, lore, collectibles, and shortcuts that open up new paths and routes by way of an unlimited Swiss-cheese warren of a world map.
We even get a dip into full-on horror at one level as Sargon makes his method by way of darkish, damp caves that do a unbelievable job of highlighting the atmospheric soundtrack. Oh, and bear in mind these stealthy, insta-kill E.M.M.I. bits from Metroid Dread? There are a couple of sequences that work just a little like that thrown in for good measure. All of it feels nice, nothing comes off as extraneous, and what’s been pilfered has been tailored to suit fantastically.
So, we have got easy and responsive fight, fancy specials and finishers to reward excellent parries, pixel-perfect platforming, slick parkour, and intelligent gauntlets that check your whole collected expertise. We have additionally acquired loads of problem within the type of timed challenges and harder routes for higher rewards and secrets and techniques. Nonetheless, probably the most spectacular points is how The Misplaced Crown offers followers of difficult platformers precisely what they need — to the purpose of virtually feeling merciless at greater difficulties — while additionally delivering a ton of good accessibility choices that busts the style extensive open to newcomers.
The headline new mechanic on this regard is the ‘Reminiscence Shard’ capacity, which lets you press down in your D-Pad to take a screenshot that is routinely added to your location in your map. It is so easy, it is so sensible, and we guess it is a pure development of the screenshot features present in later Murderer’s Creed video games. With the flexibility to tag puzzles or treasures on this method, or just to mark a route you do not have the abilities to traverse simply now, Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown makes it straightforward as pie to maintain tags on all the things.
We have additionally acquired the sport’s amulets – collectible gadgets that tweak and increase all method of points of gameplay, akin to assault energy and max well being, while additionally supplying you with new strikes like flashy dodges, exploding enemies, and extra. Then, on prime of all of this, a complete accessibility menu permits gamers to activate a intelligent platform help mechanic that warps you previous tough sections, in addition to supplying you with HUD scaling, a Excessive Distinction Mode, goal help, and sliders for injury enter and output. Heck, you may even change dodge home windows, parry timings, and how briskly Athra — used to cost up these particular Athra assaults — is collected. Select your individual journey, certainly.
This all ends in a Prince of Persia recreation that pays its due respects to the previous by taking the basics of the unique and totally modernising them. The truth that it does this while additionally addressing most of the important points some folks might have with this style — i.e. the usually loopy problem — is simply the icing on prime. The issue is there do you have to need it, let’s be clear, however newcomers, or these searching for one thing extra stress-free, will discover lots to take pleasure in, too. Let’s hope this serves as the start line for a brand new sequence, as a result of we’re completely down for extra.
On a closing word, and maybe most significantly for the Change model of the sport, we have had only a few points with Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown by way of its efficiency. It seems fantastically brilliant and vibrant in each docked and handheld (1080p and 720p respectively) and performs at 60fps throughout the board, so large wins throughout there. We additionally occurred to be enjoying the Collection X model alongside this one (you may take a look at our evaluation for that port at our sister web site, Pure Xbox) and the graphical variations are slight to say the least. It might lack just a little fancy lighting or shadows right here and there, however this can be a very fairly recreation, particularly on the console’s handheld display screen.
Efficiency is not 100% excellent – there are some slight stutters when transferring into new areas (fortunately these transitions by no means contain gameplay and the jitters are short-lived and minor in our expertise), and a few non-transitional cutscenes additionally had a couple of hiccups. Past this, some further loading screens are the one different modifications we observed between the 2 variations; it is a very tasty Change port, and a recreation that rockets to very close to the highest of our record of important motion platformers. 2024 is kicking off in fashion.